volcanohunter

In the Bolshoi production the Queen of the Dryads generally doesn't do Italian fouettes because they are reserved for Dulcineas who can't do the sissonnes toward the end of her variation (e.g., Zakharova, Smirnova, Stepanova). Although even among "jumping" Dulcineas there are few who do sissonnes; most switch in jetes instead, for example, Shrainer on Thursday.

I would say that Kovalyova's difficulties are also apparent in roles, where she has no partner, such as Myrtha or the Queen of the Dryads.

She does not have control of her limbs. It's not unrelated, but my greatest objection to Kovalyova is that despite her enormous height (even a tall, strapping dancer like Egor Khromushin looks short next to her) is that her dancing is actually quite "small."

Domingo doesn't deny the events took place. He merely insists the encounters were consensual. He doesn't deny pursuing women, and it's not for him to decide whether his propositions were welcome. So the accusations aren't "tosh." I agree wholeheartedly. I hope the scandal finally prompts him to leave the stage. It's something he should have done a very long time ago.

I don't think this has been mentioned elsewhere, but the souvenir program includes updated ranks. principal dancer - Artemy Belyakov leading soloist - Alyona Kovalyova first soloist - Olga Marchenkova, David Motta Soares soloist - Anastasia Denisova, Eleonora Sevenard Other dancers in featured roles (Bochkova, Chapkina, Gerashchenko, Kruteleva, Kryuchkov, Putintsev, Trikoz) remain in the corps de ballet.

It's our celebrity culture. Some years ago a journalist showed me some photographs she had taken at a women's conference at the UN. It was attended by very remarkable women, who were doing extraordinary things around the world. Gwyneth Paltrow was also there. After the session the delegates swarmed around Paltrow to get her autograph. I was puzzled.

It means that a dancer was a awarded a prize at, say, the Helsinki International Ballet Competition. Preoccupation with competitions was a peculiarly Soviet thing. It's strange to us, because we see competitions for young performing artists are some measure of potential, not as certification of finished artistry. Fernando Bujones, who was very successful in competitions, once said that they measured a dancer's ability to perform a certain kind of repertoire in a certain kind of setting. But there it's regarded as an important set of credentials for a junior dancer. However, once a dancer has reached a certain rank, or been awarded a Merited or People's honorific, it seems silly to mention that as a 22-year-old they won a medal at a competition for a particularly snazzy rendition of the Le Corsaire pas de deux.

Thank you very much for the link. I hadn't seen any part of Diving into the Lilacs before.

It's unscientific, but flower hauls are some measure of a dancer's popularity, and in Russia that goes for the men, too. Personally, I haven't seen a male dancer bestow one of his bouquets on a partner who had received fewer--this would be an insult to the admirer who had brought the bouquet--but if his floral bounty is larger, most will set the flowers down on the ground quickly and discreetly. But not all. I agree with you about the relative strength of the ballerina rosters. The Royal Ballet's is superior, and English National Ballet is home to some very remarkable ballerinas as well.

Zakharova is immensely popular in Moscow, and claques at the Bolshoi are very real things. But I don't see how Zakharova supporters could compel other members of the audience from responding to Obraztsova if that's what they wanted to do. My impression is that Bolshoi audiences have never really warmed to Obraztsova. If memory serves, I've seen eight of her performances this season, and looking through the snapshots on my phone, each time her partner received more flowers than she did. I don't think Zakharova fans would go so far as to supply Obraztsova's partners with flowers. What they spend on Zakharova's massive bouquets would be enough to break most budgets. When conversation has turned to Obraztsova, my Muscovite acquaintances tend to speak of her as technical and correct, but not engaging. "Not my ballerina" is a phrase I hear often. For the record, neither Obraztsova nor Zakharova speaks to me, and I don't go out of my way to see either of them, although my instinct to avoid Zakharova is stronger.

A few more tweaks from the ROH site. Mon 29 Jul 2019, 7.30pm: Spartacus (Rodkin/ Sevenard Denisova / Lantratov Ovcharenko Belyakov / Zakharova) Tue 30 Jul 2019, 7.30pm: Spartacus (Tsvirko/ Nikulina Vinogradova/ Ovcharenko Belyakov Ovcharenko / Smirnova) Wed 31 Jul 2019, 7.30pm: Spartacus (Lobukhin/ Vinogradova Nikulina / Belyakov Skvortsov / Stepanova Shipulina) Thu 1 Aug 2019, 7.30pm: Spartacus (Vasiliev Rodkin/ Denisova Sevenard/ Skvortsov Belyakov/ Shipulina Stepanova) Fri 2 Aug 2019, 7.30pm: Swan Lake (Smirnova/ Chudin / Lobukhin; Kruteleva, Chapkina, Gusev) Sat 3 Aug 2019, 2pm: Swan Lake (Kovalyova/Tissi/Gerashchenko; Bochkova, Denisova, Putintsev) Sat 3 Aug 2019, 7.30pm: Swan Lake (Zakharova/ Belyakov Rodkin / Kryuchkov; Khokhlova, Turazashvili, Gusev) Mon 5 Aug 2019, 7.30pm: Swan Lake (Stepanova/ Ovcharenko / Lobukhin; Bochkova, Denisova, Gusev) Tue 6 Aug 2019, 7.30pm: Swan Lake (Nikulina/ Chudin / Soares; Kruteleva, Chapkina, Putintsev) Wed 7 Aug 2019, 7.30pm: The Bright Stream (Zhiganshina Khokhlova/ Vasiliev Tsvirko/ Skvortsov/ Krysanova) Thu 8 Aug 2019, 7.30pm: The Bright Stream (Nikulina/ Lobukhin Chudin/ Lantratov Skvortsov/ Shipulina) Fri 9 Aug 2019, 7.30pm: Spartacus (Rodkin/ Sevenard Denisova/ Belyakov Ovcharenko Belyakov/ Zakharova) Sat 10 Aug 2019, 2pm: Spartacus ( Tsvirko/ Nikulina Shrainer/ Skvortsov/ Krysanova) Sat 10 Aug 2019, 7.30pm: Spartacus (Vasiliev Lobukhin/ Denisova Sevenard/ Lantratov Belyakov Ovcharenko/ Smirnova) Mon 12 Aug 2019, 7.30pm: Swan Lake (Stepanova/ Ovcharenko/ Soares Lobukhin; Bochkova, Denisova, Gusev) Tue 13 Aug 2019, 7.30pm: Swan Lake (Marchenkova Krysanova/ Belyakov/ Kryuchkov; Khokhlova, Turazashvili, Gusev) Wed 14 Aug 2019, 7.30pm: Swan Lake (Kovalyova/ Tissi/ Gerashchenko; Bochkova, Denisova, Putintsev) Thu 15 Aug 2019, 7.30pm: Don Quixote (Shrainer/ Vasiliev Tsvirko; Tikhomirova, Skvortsov, Chapkina) Fri 16 Aug 2019, 7.30pm: Don Quixote (Krysanova/ Lantratov Soares; Vinogradova, Biktimirov, Marchenkova) Sat 17 Aug 2019, 2pm: Don Quixote (Sevenard/ Tsvirko Belyakov; Turazashvili, Alexeyev, Trikoz) Sat 17 Aug 2019, 7.30pm: Don Quixote (Stepanova/ Rodkin Belyakov Rodkin; Vlashinets, Skvortsov, Kovalyova)

Things are a bit different in the age of Instagram. It's true that prior to the Australian press push Tsvirko hadn't been very public about the end of his marriage to Savarskaya or his relationship with Shrainer. This is understandable, since there is a child involved, one old enough to understand what is taking place.

During the recent Australian tour Shrainer and Tsvirko were promoted as a human-interest story. So that's the official Bolshoi position. I suppose it might have been a little less appealing if the stories had mentioned that Tsvirko used to be married to someone else. https://thewest.com.au/news/qld/art-imitates-life-as-boyfriend-and-girlfriend-set-to-star-in-bolshoi-ballets-spartacus-ng-037056912680ee639785e65bc280e7f7

They are not as extensive, but the demi-soloist women in Diamonds also do chaînés on demi-pointe in the scherzo, and as in Ratmansky's SB, they contrast with the full-pointe chaînés the ballerina does at the end of her big first solo passage.

Generally, the Bolshoi doesn't take dancers on tour to appear in only one ballet. Jacopo Tissi is an exception, but he is one of Vaziev's Most Highly Favored, so different rules apply. Londoners may feel differently, but in Moscow Obraztsova does not go over well in Don Quixote. She danced excerpts from the ballet at the Maximova gala in February, and when she made her entrance, the silence was deafening.